mid-12c., possibly from Old Danish døja or Old Norse deyja "to die, pass away," both from Proto-Germanic *dawjan (source also of Old Frisian deja "to kill," Old Saxon doian, Old High German touwen, Gothic diwans "mortal"), from PIE root *dheu- (3) "to pass away, die, become senseless" (source also of Old Irish dith "end, death," Old Church Slavonic daviti, Russian davit' "to choke, suffer").

It has been speculated that Old English had *diegan, from the same source, but it is not in any of the surviving texts and the preferred words were steorfan (see starve), sweltan (see swelter), wesan dead, also forðgan and other euphemisms.

Languages usually don't borrow words from abroad for central life experiences, but "die" words are an exception, because they are often hidden or changed euphemistically out of superstitious dread. A Dutch euphemism translates as "to give the pipe to Maarten." Regularly spelled dege through 15c., and still pronounced "dee" by some in Lancashire and Scotland. Used figuratively (of sounds, etc.) from 1580s. Related: Died; dies.

early 14c. (as a plural, late 14c. as a singular), from Old French de "die, dice," which is of uncertain origin. Common Romanic (cognates: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian dado, Provençal dat, Catalan dau), perhaps from Latin datum "given," past participle of dare (see date (n.1)), which, in addition to "give," had a secondary sense of "to play" (as a chess piece); or else from "what is given" (by chance or Fortune). Sense of "stamping block or tool" first recorded 1690s.

also die-hard, 1844 (n.), in reference to the 57th Regiment of Foot in the British Army; as an adjective, attested from 1871; from die (v.) + hard (adv.). As a brand name of an automobile battery, DieHard, introduced by Sears in 1967.

also diaeresis, 1610s, "sign marking the division of a diphthong into two simple sounds," from Late Latin diaeresis, from Greek diairesis "division," noun of action from diairein "to divide, separate," from dia- "apart" (see dia-) + hairein "to take" (see heresy). In classical prosody, "the slight break in the forward motion of a line that is felt when the end of a foot coincides with the end of a word" [Miller Williams, "Patterns of Poetry"].

late 14c., "to regulate one's diet for the sake of health," from Old French dieter, from diete (see diet (n.1)); meaning "to regulate oneself as to food" (especially against fatness) is from 1650s. Related: Dieted; dieting. An obsolete word for this is banting. The adjective in this sense (Diet Coke, etc.) is from 1963, originally American English.

German masc. name and surname, literally "folk-rule" (Dutch Diederik), from Old High German Theodric, from theuda "folk, people" (see Teutonic) + rihhi "rule" (see Reich). Variants or familiar forms include Derrick, Dierks, Dieter, Dirk. Compare Theodoric. Theodric the Ostrogoth, who held sway in Italy 493-526, appears in later German tales as Dietrich von Bern (Verona).

Originally a mathematical term; transitive and non-technical sense of "discriminate between" is from 1876. Earlier, difference had been used as a verb in this sense. Related: Differentiated; differentiating; differentiation.

early 14c. (diggen), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to dike and ditch, either via Old French diguer (ultimately from a Germanic source), or directly from an unrecorded Old English word. Native words were deolfan (see delve), grafan (see grave (v.)).

Slang sense of "understand" first recorded 1934 in African-American vernacular, probably based on the notion of "excavate." A slightly varied sense of "appreciate" emerged 1939. Strong past participle dug appeared 16c., but is not etymological. Related: Digging.

late 14c., from Old French digestif (14c.), from Late Latin digestivus "pertaining to digestion," from past participle stem of Latin digerere (see digest (n.)). From 1530s as an adjective. The noun in the French form digestif is attested from 1908.

The Latin word borrowed even earlier into continental Germanic became Old High German dihton "to write compose," German dichten "to write poetry." In Middle English, dight exploded to a vast array of meanings (including "to rule," "to handle," "to abuse," "to have sex with," "to kill," "to clothe," "to make ready," "to repair") till it was one of the most-used verbs in the language, but all senses have faded now into obscurity, dialect, or poetic use.

late 14c., "numeral below 10," from Latin digitus "finger or toe" (also with secondary meanings dealing in counting and numerals), considered to be related to dicere "to say, speak" (see diction). Numerical sense is because numerals under 10 were counted on fingers. The "finger or toe" sense in English is attested from 1640s.

1650s, "pertaining to fingers," from Latin digitalis, from digitus (see digit). Meaning "using numerical digits" is from 1938, especially of computers after c. 1945; in reference to recording or broadcasting, from 1960. Related: Digitize.

1660s, Modern Latin translation of German fingerhut, the German name of "foxglove," literally "thimble." Named by Fuchs (1542), and so called for its shape. The medicine (originally extracted from the plant) is so called from 1799.